LIVE WIRE RADIO NAMES LUKE BURBANK AS NEW HOST AS IT MOVES INTO ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR.

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LIVE WIRE RADIO NAMES LUKE BURBANK AS NEW HOST

AS IT MOVES INTO ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR.

Live Wire, a Portland, Oregon-based radio variety show now airing in over 15 markets around the country, has named NPR veteran and seersucker-suit-wearing Luke Burbank as their new host.

Burbank is a former NPR host, a stand-up comic, and the host of his own highly successful podcast, Too Beautiful to Live, which boasts over 2 million downloads a month.

Burbank recently stepped down from his post on The Luke Burbank Show on KIRO radio in Seattle, and comes to Live Wire with a powerful public radio pedigree. He's a panelist and fill-in host of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and has appeared on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and This American Life.

Burbank is equally excited to be joining a show whose broadcast footprint is growing daily (Austin, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Seattle, et al.), and whose staff has 10 years of production under their belt.

"I think it's pretty rare you get to come in and host something that's already as awesome as Live Wire - usually a show is either dying, or just being born and there's a lot of work to do. Basically, I'm just a stepdad that's coming into an already highly functional family."

Burbank's first official show as host (he filled in for five shows after Courtenay Hameister stepped down in spring) will be September 7, 2013 at the Alberta Rose Theatre. The first broadcast from that evening will air Saturday, September 14. Guests for that show include director Lynn Shelton (Your Sister's Sister, Hump Day), Davey Rothbart (Found Magazine), and Thao Nguyen of Thao and the Get Down Stay Down.

The show has created a series of short videos to announce Burbank as host. The first in the series can be found here:

ABOUT LIVE WIRE: Live Wire is an independently produced radio variety show that records every two weeks at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland, Oregon. The show features music, original sketch comedy, and performances and interviews with authors, filmmakers, and thought leaders from the Northwest and beyond. The show airs weekly on Oregon Public Broadcasting and on NPR affiliates in 15 other markets around the country, including Austin, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Seattle and San Francisco.

ABOUT LUKE BURBANK: Luke Burbank grew up one of seven kids, learning early on how to vie for attention. Those profound childhood issues have propelled him to various media projects including This American Life, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, CBS Sunday Morning, and the daily podcast Too Beautiful To Live. He lives in Seattle with his wife Carey and daughter Addie.